


Threadbare

by SoldierOfMyShadowyMind



Series: I Won't Fall When You're Shook [3]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Banter, Body Worship, Bodysharing, Clothes, Domestic Fluff, Engagement parties, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Other, Possessive Venom, Slice of Life, Sort Of, Venom has a thing for suits, is it sharing clothes when your symbiote is your clothes?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 00:38:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16336418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind/pseuds/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind
Summary: “Hey! That was my favourite!” Keeping his voice down is presenting an enormous struggle right now but the last thing Eddie wants is to attract attention to them, standing in the dressing cubicle, bare-chested, with the shredded remains of his beloved hoodie scattered around his feet.Venom just gives a shrug using Eddie’s shoulders.That only serves to fan Eddie’s fury. “Are you completely insane?! I can’t walk out of here half-naked!” he hisses.We will take care of that. Now put on the suit.(Or: Venom ruins Eddie’s favourite hoodie. His replacement is… something else entirely.)





	Threadbare

**Author's Note:**

> Am I making this a thing? One fic a day? Let’s see how long I can keep that up. (At least I'm writing short things again, I'm not used to that anymore.) Today on the menu: Venom appreciating Eddie in a suit. This was a fun ride, hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
> 
> Update: A huge thank you to [queenmimi011](https://queenmimi011.tumblr.com/) for drawing such an adorable [art](https://atravellingsoldierstaleofwinter.tumblr.com/post/179461016534/the-part-in-threadbare-where-eddie-kisses) for this fic!

Eddie stares at the three-piece suit. And stares. Blinks. Sighs. There’s no way around it, he supposes.

It’s not that he doesn’t like dressing up occasionally, suits just naturally don’t belong in his closet. Apart from being highly impractical in his daily life, Eddie’s an investigative journalist, not one of those desk monkeys or news presenters that have neither the foggiest idea what they’re babbling on about nor the guts to ask the questions that really pour salt into open wounds. He has his pride, okay? And that’s usually hard to swallow, especially with an arrogant, supercilious alien on his back.

 _It’s for Annie,_ he reminds himself. Three years ago he would have bristled (read: flinched violently) at the thought of Annie marrying anyone other than him but a lot has happened since then and Eddie can proudly say he’s truly happy for Annie and Dan. The doctor’s not just a replacement for Eddie, a tool to make him jealous or cut him out of Annie’s life for good. No, Dan truly cares about Annie, has no problem with Eddie (a fact that still surprises Eddie to this day) and Annie loves him. Dan’s a lucky bastard and he knows it. He gets to spend the rest of his life with this world’s most beautiful, perfect woman, he gets to maybe even start a family with her, raise kids with her, tell them how their mum heroically saved their poor, perpetually single Uncle Eddie from a horrible, jagged, fiery death—

Venom clears his throat. Or the booming, rumbling equivalent of it that rattles Eddie’s bones and makes him sway slightly on his feet.

Eddie relents. “And I get to spend the rest of my life with a loving pile of alien goo that morphs into a really fucking terrifying monster when it’s hungry and could use me as a toothpick any time it pleases.”

 ** _We are not a monster._** Venom sounds insulted and petulant but also a little hurt.

Eddie rubs soothingly across his shoulder where he can feel the symbiote is perched. “I know, sweetie, that’s just a turn of phrase. You’re – we’re – not a monster and I’m not single, got it.”

Venom gives a huff in their shared mind but he sounds appeased. It’s easier these days to satisfy him. Although he still throws the occasional tantrum when Eddie looks too long at a handsome guy or smiles too wide at a nice girl, assuring him of Eddie’s devotion takes little more than a warm thought and a pulse of affection. It happens less and less these days, anyway. Eddie’s interest in others has steadily diminished and how would a “normal” relationship work, anyway, when it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between _I_ and _We_. Eddie increasingly finds he doesn’t want to draw that line anymore, it feels wrong and oddly like separation. Since the battle with Riot and Drake they’ve experienced being ripped apart too many times for Eddie to feel comfortable alone in their body. It’s too empty, too silent. It feels like being hollowed out, a vital part of you being scooped out of you and forcibly kept out of reach, held hostage. Eddie’s grown used to Venom piloting him when he’s too tired to stand up straight or can’t be arsed to care when they’ve offended some grocery shopper or diner patron and Eddie lets Venom take over to march them out of there. Having to coordinate his limbs all by himself without the reassurance of someone catching him when he falls is becoming increasingly difficult and Eddie knows the thought should worry him. It doesn’t, not really.

But all of that comes with the package of being a part-time reporter, part-time protector of the innocent, he supposes. Everyone’s heard the rumours of the night-time vigilante purging the streets of the city. Eddie regularly snorts out his breakfast cereal reading the headlines of the local newspapers. It feels like a colourful, absurd comic book story.

That being said, he still appreciates a well-built body, he’s not above that.

**_Our body is a perfect specimen._ **

“Why, thanks, darling.” Eddie reluctantly goes about peeling waistcoat from suit jacket and hanging them up separately next to the dress shirt. If he takes any longer, the overly polite shop assistant who helped him pick out the suit might come looking for him.

**_It fulfils all the necessary requirements. It is strong and you have sufficiently learned to keep us healthy._ **

Eddie grunts. “Ruin a compliment, why don’t you.” He regards the four pieces with a sceptically arched eyebrow. “You really know how to win a guy over.”

Venom ignores him in favour of a hissed command. **_Now put on those clothes. We are—_**

“Hungry, I know, it’s hard not to notice. Jesus, Venom we literally just had lunch.” Eddie rubs his forehead, he can feel the eternal hunger flaring up at the back of his mind but right now it’s really flippin’ inconvenient.

**_Not enough._ **

He rolls his eyes. “As you keep saying.” And pointing out, rather literally, as Venom keeps floating down to prod at Eddie’s stomach.

**_Put on the suit!_ **

“Pushy, today, are we.”

Evidently, things aren’t going fast enough for Venom so without further ado two black tendrils grow out of Eddie’s sides and unceremoniously rip his hoodie clean off his chest.

Eddie stares, dumbfounded. Then, he starts fuming. “Hey! That was my favourite!” Keeping his voice down is presenting an enormous struggle right now but the last thing Eddie wants is to attract attention to them, standing in the dressing cubicle, bare-chested, with the shredded remains of his beloved hoodie scattered around his feet.

Venom just gives a shrug using Eddie’s shoulders.

That only serves to fan Eddie’s fury. “Are you completely insane?! I can’t walk out of here half-naked!” he hisses.

**_We will take care of that. Now put on the suit._ **

But Eddie is not done yet. “We are going to have a talk about boundaries, my friend” he scolds. They’re having that talk on a daily basis and the never-ending loop of it is starting to strain at Eddie’s nerves. “I know you struggle with whole thinking first, acting second kind of thing but I’d really appreciate if you’d give it a try next time. At least give me a warning.”

 ** _EDDIE._** Venom’s growing impatient and that is never a good sign.

Eddie sighs, resigned. “You really have thing for suits, huh?”

He obliges, however, if only to get out of here quickly, and tries not to worry about how it’ll look, walking home in just his jeans and sneakers. He might be a pesky bastard but he’s not that much of a douchebag.

When he’s dressed, he regards himself in the mirror, tugging and picking uncomfortably at the foreign fabric on is skin. He squirms a bit, testing mobility and elbow-room. To his surprise, he doesn’t feel as ridiculous as he’d thought and the suit fits unexpectedly well.

 ** _Delicious._** Venom purrs contentedly if not complacently and swarms out through their body, exploring the feel of it.

Eddie snorts but can’t help the smile that’s tugging at his lips at Venom’s obvious approval. The dark blue colour and precise cut accentuate his angles and edges, the fabric flowing nicely and clinging to him in all the right places. It’s not as dismal as black and doesn’t have the stale sternness of grey.

**_We look good. We like it._ **

“Yeah, I noticed.” He chuckles. Happy shivers run up his arms and Venom pours out of his cuffs and trouser legs, climbing over the fabric of the suit up to Eddie’s shoulders to sink back into his skin there and settle, thrumming cheerfully and pleased. A tendril extends from behind his neck to straighten his lapels and Eddie thinks with a rush of fondness that he could get used to this.

**_Take it._ **

“I knew you’d say that” Eddie mumbles, chuckling quietly as he changes back into his own clothes. Or what’s left of that, anyway. Gathering up the remains of his hoodie he regards the torn pieces somewhat longingly before he stuffs them into the corner of the cubicle. Throwing the suit another glance, he says, “Can’t change the verdict, can I?”

**_No._ **

Eddie squints at the price tag, wrinkles his nose. “Oh, fuck it.” If he’s going to Annie and Dan’s engagement party he might as well look stunning. Eddie stops in his tracks for a second when he realises that last part didn’t originate in his own thoughts and then grins a little stupidly as Venom sends gleeful shivers up and down his spine.

One issue remains, however. “Now, what are we doing about this?” Eddie asks, waving his hands at his bare upper body. Answering anticipation trickles through him as his skin begins to turn black and Eddie watches the display with no small amount of fascination even though he’s seen it countless times by now. Inky tendrils spread out across his torso, curl around his biceps and stomach and flatten against his skin. Venom thins out and creeps up his back and around his shoulders, tying himself around Eddie’s wrists and neck. Eddie’s skin prickles with a delighted sort of pleasure and he feels a little giddy at being… _claimed_ like this.

When he drags up his eyes to glance at the reflection in the mirror he’s looking into two pairs of eyes glinting through his own. He’s wearing a black sweater, threaded around him as if poured onto his skin. Eddie chuckles at the analogy. Clinging to him like this, Venom feels softer than any fabric, velvet and smooth as Eddie runs his hands down his chest. The symbiote shudders pleasantly.

“A tad territorial, don’t you think?” Eddie teases, admiring the work. It’s phenomenal.

 ** _Mine._** Venom growls but the sound is a content hum and it makes Eddie grin.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” It doesn’t matter that Venom won’t allow anyone else into their shared life, Eddie is happy right where he is and he adores his strange, intensely jealous other half.

**_Hungry._ **

That earns their reflection an eye-roll and a huff. “I know you know how to speak in full sentences, it’s polite, remember?”

 ** _Food_** comes the happily defiant remark.

Eddie just throws his arms up in exasperation but as he goes to gather the suit, Venom shifts and wraps tighter around him, squeezing in what must be the most bizarre and crushing hug in Earth’s history.

Eddie gasps for air. “I do need to breathe, y’know?” he wheezes, dropping his arm that had reached for the suit, slightly dizzy with the lack of oxygen.

Venom relents, thankfully, and Eddie takes a few seconds to slow his heartrate and get air into his lungs. He grabs the suit but before he leaves the dressing room, he stops, lifts one wrist and presses a soft kiss to his “sleeve”. Venom vibrates happily and Eddie feels the echo of it all around him, encompassing and private.

“You’re weird” he says affectionately, knowing Venom is feeling particularly smug.

“All right, what do you fancy for dinner?” Eddie mumbles as he pulls the curtain aside and ambles out into the shop, feeling a little as if put on the spot and the excitement in his veins is theirs, the compounded sensation of the prospect of food for Venom and Eddie showing them both so openly.

**_Pancakes!_ **

“That’s gonna be a whole lotta pancakes.” Eddie laughs. Venom snuggles around his neck, purring softly and shifting naturally with Eddie’s movements.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is very much appreciated, as always! Have a lovely day, you all, cheers!


End file.
